The Promise of a Hero
by Fantasy0fanatic
Summary: Book 2: Nico di Angelo/Spider-Man Homecoming. Hades decides that Nico needs to interact with the living after what happened during the battle against Ultron, so he sends him to a school in Queens New York to learn how to socialize. Though, instead of having relaxing, more like boring, year, Nico somehow crosses paths with the neighborhood's spider-man. Who's great idea was this?
1. chapter 1

**Hello, welcome to my second Story in this series. I hope you enjoy it. This chapter is short since it's an opener, but the others should be longer. However, I might not update very often for a while because my school year ended and I find it really hard to write during the summer. If it takes forever for me to post a new chapter just keep reminding me that I need to write. Thanks for reading.**

 **This will be the only disclaimer for the whole book because I don't want to have to do one every chapter again: I am not Marvel. I don't own Spider-Man. I am not Rick Riordan. Any references to other fandoms you might find in this book do not belong** **to me. Please don't sue me.**

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So far Hades throne room has been a source of bad news for years. This is where Persephone turned me into a plant, where my father revealed that he wished Bianca lived instead of me, where I ended up betraying Percy, and where I got the quest that get Will killed. So it's reasonable to say that I don't have high expectations as I stand at the foot of Hades throne with my head bowed.

"Do you have another job for me?" I question. Lately I've been working as a grim reaper by collecting escaped souls. I had been hoping to get the day off so that I could visit Will in Elysian. It's almost Ashely's birthday and I need his advice on what you should get a twelve year old child of Hecate that can raise dead animals. Though, it doesn't look like that will happen now.

"Not exactly," Father hesitates to continue. That's never a good sign. "Thanatos tells me you've been avoiding people ever since you left camp."

"Then Thanatos is mistaken," I deny even if it is true, but only slightly. It's true I have only been back to Half-Blood once or twice since leaving during Will's funeral, but I have other places to stay like an Apartment in Queens under a fake name or my room in the Underworld. As for the whole avoiding people thing, I may have isolated myself from everyone for a few months after Will's death, but I eventually worked up the courage to visit Elysian. Obviously Will gave me an earful about how I shouldn't push everyone away and bugged me until I made up with Lou Ellen. Now I hang out with her and Ashely, so technically I have four friends if I count Hazel, so ignoring everyone else in the world shouldn't warrant getting summoned to the throne room.

"It doesn't matter, I've already turned in the paper work and had you enrolled," Father brushes off my comment.

"Enrolled? Wait, are you making me go to school?" I can't believe it.

"Yes, I've have been assured that all normal kids your age go, and I think it will help your social skills if you try it," he explains. Should I be irritated or proud that he just inferred that I'm not normal.

"But I have tutors. Why do I need to go to an actual school when I can learn everything here?" I resist. My father sighs as though he expected this to happen.

"I'm sure you're aware that most of my children become anti-social, are shunned, or go crazy." Yeah, like my big brother Hitler. "Well, I want you to be an exception." Oh great, he's getting all sappy. Who is this guy and what has he done with my stone hearted father?

"And you think that forcing me to go to school will help keep me from wanting to go on a killing spree?" I can't help roll my eyes.

"Exactly," he completely ignores my sarcasm.

"Fine," I groan, "when do I start?"

"Monday, so tomorrow. Jules Albert knows where it is and can drive you in the morning. For convenience you should stay in the apartment during the week. You'll find you school supplies there, Hades instructs. Ugh, I'm not ready for this. I had hoped to have at least a week to prepare before having to deal with the torture that is school.

"Yeah, yeah," I mutter then I shadow travel to my room to start packing. Will will have to wait until another day.

In my room, I throw random shirts (most of them black) and jeans into a blood red and black duffel bag. Next, I call a skeleton guard and order him to give a message to Will about what's happening and where I'm going. No one wants him to try storming the palace again, that was a disaster. Don't ask.

With that done, I shadow travel to my apartment. I remember to set an alarm for tomorrow before I collapse on my bed to pass out. Might as well be rested for my first day of school in years. I'm already dreading this. Why do the Fates hate me?


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry that I haven't updated in forever. I would promise that it won't happen again, but it more than likely will.  
Moving on, I haven't been answering reviews so I'm going to finally do that her.**

 **Guest that asked about me doing Infinity War: No, I'm not planning on it. That's to many deaths that I refuse to believe actually happened and after Will died do you really want me to kill off more** **charters?**

 **asdfghjkl1292: I'm really glad that you like the story, but I don't know about giving Nico a love interest. Besides my inability to write actual romance, I don't want to betray Soangelo, sorry. I will consider it though.**

 **I'm going to try to reply to reviews more often, so please leave any questions you have either there or message me privately. Now on to the story.**

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Did I ever mention how much I hate school? The hallways aren't wide enough to accommodate all the students at once. Everyone has their own little cliche. The classes are incredibly boring. And if one more thing almost hits me in the head, I'm going to lose it. This might as well be the mortal version of the Fields of Punishment. At least the girl put in charge of showing me around isn't terrible. Like me, she's more of a loner. I think her name was Michelle or something. Though she doesn't seem to share any classes with me. Now I'm resisting the urge to bang my head on the table as the teacher drones on and on. The guy in front of me has the right idea. Instead of listening to the lesson he's watching videos of some hero in a red suit swinging around New York.

At lunch I end up sitting across from Michelle at the same table as the kid from before and another guy. Michelle and I politely ignore each other while the guys discuss a girl hanging up a banner for the homecoming dance. "Don't you think that's starting to get a little creepy," I offer when they begin discussing her skirt. Michelle looks up from what she's doing at my comment and gives a small laugh.

"To late, it's been creepy for a while now," Michelle points out. "Those two losers are Peter and Ned; they're always like that," she introduces.

"Then why do you sit with them?" I wonder.

"Finally, someone asks." Ned exclaims. "I like you. What's your name?"

"Nico di Angelo," I offer hesitantly.

"You know, I don't think I've seen you around," Peter continues the conversation. Michelle returns to what ever it is she was doing without answering my question as the attention shifts to me.

"It's my first day so," I let them make their own conclusion.

They continue asking me about everything from my favorite color (black obviously) to why it sounds like I have a slight accent (I'm Italian, of course I have an accent), most of which I answer with half lies. By the time lunch ends I think I'm free from having to socialize, but instead I end up getting dragged to practice for something that all the others at the table are involved in. I just want to be left alone. Is that to much to ask? The club's main purpose seems easy enough. The girl Peter has a crush on asks a question that you ring a bell to answer. For a while I watch and try to see how many I can get right before I realize that even though I know the answer to a good many, the ones I don't know involve specific information that has no use to me. Like, when will I ever need to know what the heaviest element is? Instead I try to work on the homework assigned for tonight, just another reason why I hate school.

"I can't, I have to be here in case Mr. Stark needs me for something," Peter argues with the teacher in charge. I don't know what they're talking about, but Stark's name catches my interest.

"Like you've met Tony Stark" An obnoxious jerk, I heard being called Flash, comments.

The conversation increases to include the other members of the club who aren't to happy for some reason. Something about Peter refusing to go to Washington which is a bad thing for the team or whatever. According to Michelle, this isn't the first club he dropped out of or even the second. Plans are changed so that Flash can replace Peter before the bell rings and everyone goes to their next class. Michelle asks Peter to show me the way since apparently we have the same teacher. Ugh, I've avoided the Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D since the fight with Ultron and Will's death, now I end up in the same class as someone who might work for the most annoying hero ever. This better not be why Hades sent me to this school. Forcing me to socialize is bad enough, but making me confront my not so distant past is taking his attempts to be a good father to far.

My last class of the day is completely boring, the bell can't ring fast enough. I wait for everyone to leave the room before grabbing my stuff and shadow traveling to my apartment. My bag with all my homework gets thrown in the nearest corner where I might do it if I get bored later, but more than likely be ignored. I should probably go see Will about what to get Ashely for her birthday since I haven't done that yet, but then there's the chance that I'll run into my father who might ask how my day was. I don't have the energy to deal with that conversation or any conversation really. Watching television until I get hungry enough to find something to eat it is then. I'm to worn out from socializing and pretending that I'm actually learning anything to care about monsters coming to attack me because I'm watching Supernatural. A couple hours of blissful alone time before it's ruined by the alarm of a nearby store.

"No, stop, I'm done helping people," I complain to the noise that's ruining my show. I bury my head in one of the pillows laying on the couch to muffle the sound.

It doesn't work.

"Seriously?" I grumble to no one in particular. "Fine, fine, I'll go check it out but nothing more." I stab at the pause button then melt into the shadows.

I come out just in time to see criminals in Avenger masks fighting the spider person that Peter is obsessed with. I've only known him for a day and all he talks about is this super hero and Liz. He shouldn't be quitting all his clubs and hobbies, he should be joining more so that he has something else to obsess over. But that's not important right now. The web shooter seem to be holding his own, so I don't need to be here. He's dodging the attacks made by the guys with the large ray gun. If he has this covered then I can go back to watching Sam, Dean, and Cass fight hunt monsters and save people. What could go wrong? It's a simple robbery.

I really need to learn to stop testing the Fates. Those laser gun things are a lot more powerful than they look. I figured that out when one was shot in my direction. Thankfully I was able to get out of the way before being turned into cinders, but the building across the street wasn't so lucky. If the explosion didn't destroy everything, the raging fire was sure to finish the job. Okay, maybe this super hero doesn't have this covered.


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks for reading and/or reviewing. Sorry for not updating in so long. As always, I'm open to constructive criticism, so please let me know if I made any grammar mistakes. Thank you.**

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Eyelids so heavy. "Mr. di Angelo." Just five more minutes of sleep, please. "Mr. di Angelo!" My eyes snap open while my brain begins processing my surroundings for any potential threats. Desks, a white board, and an angry teacher, I must be at school. "This is going to be on our next test, meaning you need to pay attention. I doubt you can do that if you're busy sleeping," The teacher, Mr. whatshisname, instructs.

"No more sleeping in class, got it," I yawn. He nods, satisfied that I got the message, and goes back to teaching some subject I don't care about. Now that his back is turned to me, I take the opportunity to try falling back asleep.

"You really should pay attention. When he says it'll be on the test he means it," Peter warns me.

"Don't care, sleep is the only important thing right now," I pretend snore to prove my point. It ends up drawing the teacher's attention, so I quickly sit up straight and scribble something down in my notebook.

"You really look exhausted," Peter continues pestering me by stating the obvious.

"Really, and here I thought I was bright as a button." I roll my eyes. Rude, yes, but at least he's to offended to say anything.

It's not his fault I'm in such a bad mood. After the building blew up last night, I stayed to see if there was any thing I could do. There wasn't, so I went home and binged watched Supernatural for the rest of the night. It wasn't the worst decision I've every made. Though probably not the best decision either. Thankfully Peter and the teacher left me alone for the rest of the period which let me get enough sleep to survive the rest of the day. I'll apologize later.

Later never came. I tried to tell him I was sorry. I tried when I sat with him during lunch again, but he spent the entire time whispering something to Ned. During gym I tried while we were watching a video staring Captain America, but Peter and Ned were discussing something about shields. Eventually the end of the day came and I never formally told Peter I was sorry. Oh well, it's the thought that counts, right? Besides, I have someone else I need to talk to right now.

I don't bother going to the apartment. Instead I find the nearest back alley and shadow travel to the Underworld. Walking past the wandering souls of Asphodel and the locked gates of the Fields of Punishment, I reach the entrance to Elysium. I flash my skull ring toward the skeletal guard to confirm my identity. He scrabbles to the controls to let me through, probably scared I'll get angry and disintegrate him if he makes me wait. Though I wouldn't go that far, I'm glad he's quick about it.

The colorful gardens and silvery, stone paths spread out before me. The house I'm looking for is closer to the middle of town which means I have to walk past couples and friends that are going for walks or something before ending up in front of a pale yellow farm house with white trim. Taking a deep breath, I trudge up the steps and ring the doorbell. After waiting a minute and no one coming to answer the door, I ring it again. When that doesn't work, I switch to knocking, trying to ignore the sense of deja vu creeping up on me. No, Will isn't Bianca. He didn't choose rebirth without telling me. He couldn't have just left like that. He promised he wouldn't.

"Hey, Nico!" Lee Fletcher, another son of Apollo greets from the street. "If you're looking for Will, I think he's out back." He points to a gate that leads to Will's back yard before spotting one of his friends and jogs to meet them.

I let Lee get out of sight before rushing off the porch and through the fence gate. A sigh of relief escapes me when I see Will kneeled down, tending flowers I gave him from my step-mother's garden. I should have realized that Will wouldn't of left without at least telling me first, but it's easy to jump to conclusion when I can't think of a reason for him to stay here in the gloomy Underworld.

"Geez Nico, you scared me." Will catches sight of me watching him and turn away from what he's doing. "Don't you know that it's polite to knock?" He jokes.

"I'll have to remember that." I give a small smile to hide how panicked I was three minutes ago.

"Great, then you should come in for some coffee, you look like you're about to fall asleep where you stand." Will gets up from his crouched position, expecting me to follow him inside. "You coming?" He asks when I don't. I must take to long to answer because he quickly dons his concerned doctor face. "Everything okay?"

I twist my skull ring around my finger. This wasn't the first time that I thought Will might have been reborn, and with things the way they are it won't be the last. It's just so easy to think he left when I can't figure out a reason for him to remain in a dreary place like the Underworld. "Why are you still here?" I blurt out. The sight of Will's shocked and slightly offend face makes me want to take back the words as soon as they exit my mouth. "I mean, why stay here? Why not be reborn where you have a chance to help people like you did when you were alive? Depending on who you're reborn as, you could become a real doctor," I try to better explain.

"First of all, not having a degree does not mean that I'm not a real doctor. Second, I'm helping people here. For example, right now I'm helping you realize how much of an idiot you are for thinking I need to be reborn and leave all my friends to be happy," Will scolds.I don't know what to say, so I keep my mouth shut. "Now Neeks, if you don't have any other idiotic questions, I'll make that coffee I mentioned and you can tell me all the details about this school you're going to, okay?" I nod. "Good," Will approves.

"Oh, Will?" I finally speak as he's about to walk into the house

"Yeah?"

"Don't call me Neeks," I remind him. He grins.

"Whatever you say Death Breath."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Oh, would you look at the date, oops. Sorry it took so long for me to update. I would say that the next update won't take as long, but I honestly can't promise that. I've already had to rewrite the beginning of chapter five two or three times, and I still don't know if I like it. Also, if you haven't noticed, I started a new story that is taking up a good bit of my writing time. It's a Will and Nico goes to Hogwarts to apologize for killing Will. It's called _A Wizard's Harmony_ if you're interested. Thank you for ****reviewing and reading. I think that's all. Until next time.**

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I'm in a much better mood when I come back from the Underworld. I don't even mind that I shadow travel next to a bridge instead of my apartment. Okay, maybe I care a little, but not nearly as much as I normally would. Though, of course my good mode has to be ruined. By an explosion no less. Seriously, can't I have one day off?

The bright lights disorient me and the noise makes my ears ring. Worst of all, the force of the blast knocks me back a couple steps right into the light of a streetlamp, making my hidden form visible to the nitwits that caused the blast. "What, are you deaf or something? I'm talking to you."I hear one call to me once the buzzing in my ears dies down. He's pointing something at me, probably what made the explosion. It's metal and oddly shaped. Wait, is that an Ultron arm? My mode has now gone from poor to horrid.

"Would you mind pointing that somewhere else?" I think that's what a normal teenager would ask. After all, I don't need them knowing that with a flick of the wrist I could kill them. At least not if I want to figure a way out of this. Preferably while destroying that arm.

Two of the men sneer at my request, the third is more hesitant. " I wanted something for a stick up. I don't want anything to do with killing a kid."

"I'm all for me living," I take a step forward. They don't seem to notice. The one holding the arm rolls his eyes. He mumbles something about a boss then passes the weapon to his less skeptical friend who, in turn, points it at me. "My father will kill me if I die here, so if I could just leave, that would be great."

"Quiet!" the armed man commands. "Do you think you're funny?" He tries to threateningly take a step closer to me. I say try because he's as scary as a new born calf. All it does is make it easier for me to destroy that weapon. I smirk, about to answer, when someone beats me to it.

"I think he's hilarious. I mean, he's not as funny as me, but certainly a close second." A guy wearing a full body, red and black, morph suit with a spider on his chest swings in before doing a flip to land between me and the arms dealers. He looks like the person from last night. The same one Peter's obsessed with. What's his name? Webman? Spiderboy? It's something like that. He's some hero that creates enough fear to scare the buyer into running away. "Don't worry citizen, I will protect you." I hum, not really convinced.

The only criminal left charges up his weapon. A blue glow similar to the explosion it produces surrounds the arm. He gets ready to fire at us. I don't give him the chance. I step out from behind my human shield while grabbing the knife hidden in my boot (If you lived in New York, you would carry a weapon too). Slingerkid raises his arm, probably to fend off the attack, at the same time that I throw the knife. The pulse of light dies when the knife pierces the forearm.

"Whoa," The arachnid based hero takes a step back in surprise. The other guy curses. "That was so cool!" His voice raises a couple octaves. Realizing this, he clears his throat and drops it back to a fake deep voice. "I mean, nice job." He gives me an awkward thumbs up.

"Thanks, but should we be letting them get away like that?" I point to the van that's rapidly pulling away.

"On it," he slips out of his low voice again. I'm sure I've heard him somewhere before. He shoots a web out of his hand. It sticks to the bumper and drags him after the van.

"Yep, you've definitely got this," I say to no one.

Well, guess I can go to the apartment now. The screeching of metal comes from the direction the van drove off in. Just one step into the shadows and I'm gone. "Every time," I groan in frustration and let the shadows devour me. I've gotten better with shadow travel over the past months, but even at normal levels I have trouble with moving objects. Honestly, I'm surprised I even make it when I land in the back of the same van the weapons dealers are using. One of the weapon dealers is leaning out where there probably should be a door. I'm not completely sure, but I don't think the masked hero is out there any more. The driver is the the first to notice me. The van swerves, almost knocking the friend onto the road. "Watch it." the sadly unflattened dealer scolds. He turns back around, clearly surprised to see me if his unhinged jaw is anything to go by. "What the f-" he starts when I jab him in the throat, turning his curse into a choked gasp for air

"Careful, there's a child present." A smirk over takes me. A quick knee to his more private parts and a blow to the head with the hilt of my sword is all it takes to knock him out. After fighting killer robots, monsters, deities, and powerful demi-gods, sometimes it's easy to forget how fragile regular mortals are. If I couldn't sense his life force, I would have thought I killed him. The driver must think the same thing. I can see his widened eye in the rear view mirror.

"Look dude, I don't want any trouble." We both know that's not really true. If it was, we wouldn't be in this situation in the first place.

"Then stop the van and turn yourself in." I decide to humor him. He shakes his head so I point my sword through the seats where it hovers right near his neck for a little incentive. I can hear him gulp.

"You hurt my buddy."

"He's still alive. It's not like I killed him."

"You destroyed our gear."

"Yep."

"The boss isn't going to be happy." My sword quivers as I shrug.

"Probably not, but he isn't here right now. I am."

"You're just a kid." I roll my eyes. This is getting tedious.

"A kid with that can kill you any second, now, stop the van before I lose my patience and make you," A sliver of anger slips though my calm facade. I should be at the apartment sleeping or binge watching another show, not threatening a petty criminal.

"If you say so," He sighs.

He slams on the the breaks. I ram into the back of the passenger seat due while my sword almost slips out of my grip as it almost slashes through the dash board. The sudden stop leaves me disoriented when he floors the gas. I'm thrown back. Tripping over the unconscious body of the other arms dealer, I all but fall out of the van. It's only thanks to my sword getting stuck in the wall that I don't. There's open air behind me, and any attempts to pull myself forward could cause my sword to dislodge. What to do. What to do. _Think_ , I've gotten out of more dangerous situations than this. The van runs over a pothole. With the speed it's going, the vehicle is actually airborn for a moment. The wheels it the road violently, jarring the entire thing. That extra little push is enough to make me lose my hold on my sword and tumble out of the van.

I really try to land in a roll, but it's not like I was prepared for this. The best I can do is barely protect my head from splitting open when I hit the ground. Gods, everything hurts. Can blood come from so many scrapes and cuts without killing me? I lay there, glad that another car hasn't come to run me over yet, when a giant bird-man thing flies over head. It's carrying a screaming red thing. The Spider hero. Because the fates apparently don't think this night is already bad enough, now I have to deal with trying to save him again. Well, sorry Fates, but I don't do heights. Have some other demigod handle the super heroes, I'm done. A second wave of pain surges through my body, though I don't think this one has anything to do with the rocks digging in to my skin. This feels warmer, closer to when I drank fire water. "Fine, fine," I pant. "I get it, that would be breaking my promise." The pain eases slightly. I pull the shadows around me and travel in what I hope is the right direction.

I filter the shadows until I end up back at the river just in time to see red spandex hero crashing through the water. First air, now water, may luck is getting worse. Standing on the shore, I try to figure out if I should rick my uncle's wrath or wait and hope they's resurface on their own. They don't. Instead, a soulless suit of amor comes out of no where, dives in, and rescues the younger hero. My first though is that it's the Ultron the hand came from. Then I notice the red an gold accents in place of dull silver metal. Stark. That's my cue to leave. Crisis averted. No risk of a fate worse than death. I can go home, drink some nectar, and sleep this all away. But, no. My feet decided to have me follow the duo to a playground, super.

In hindsight, spying on them from behind a bush while injured, really isn't a good idea. While Stark remotely scolds the arachnid, I do my best to avoid making a noise when a branch comes in contact with one of my many cuts. Though I'm sure now that I've heard that voice somewhere before. At some point during their one-sided conversation, the mask comes off. It's Peter! Of course! I knew it. Okay, I didn't really know, but I, you know what, never mind. My wounds are momentarily forgotten as I take in this new information. That internship he's always going on about makes a lot more sense now. I wait for Stark to finish belittling Parker and for them both to leave before standing.

"Fancy seeing you here," a mechanized voice says. I spin around, as much as I can with my leg being asleep, and come face to amor with the Ironman suit. He must have noticed me and circled back around after Parker left.

"Stark," I basically sneer. I rather not deal with him tonight. I don't have the mental tolerance for his ego right now.

"It's been a while. I think it's time we've talked." I frown as my mood plummets to the Underworld.


	5. Chapter 5

**_A/N: Hello, I've finally updated without waiting three months in between. I call that an accomplishment. If you want this to happen again, please review and remind me that I need to write. Sometimes I start reading and forget to save time for writing, so all reminders are helpful. Also, thanks for reading my story and/or reviewing. It's awesome seeing what everyone thinks. If you have any questions about anything I've written or something like that just message me. I'll try to respond. Thank you._**

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I'm annoyed, so basically nothing has changed since I came back from the UnderWorld. I should have stayed at the palace. At least then I wouldn't be stuck in a boring conference room.

After Stark decided he wanted to talk to me, his suit grabbed me and flew me to one of the many buildings he owns. Now I'm in this room with some guard introduced as Happy blocking the door. Usually that wouldn't be a problem since I can shadow travel, but the lights happen to be extremely bright. Maybe Stark isn't as idiotic as I thought if he figured out my disappearing trick.

I alternate between tapping my foot and twisting in my chair (seriously, who give a demigod a swivel chair) for an agonizingly long time before the glass doors swing open and Stark finally decided to grace up with his obnoxious presence. "You kidnapped me." That's not what I was expecting my first words to him in months to be. Still, it is worth mentioning. "Doesn't that go against some type of super hero code?"

Stark glades to his body guard. Happy simple shrugs. "He's got a point, this is kinda illegal," he agrees with me.

"Happy."Stark rubs his eyes in exasperation.

"Yes sir?"

"Get out." Stark points out the door.

"What ever you say boss." Happy give a little salute and a smirk and leaves.

"Look kid," Stark addresses me.

"You know, I'm really tired of being called that," I interrupt.

"Nico," he amends, "or do you prefer Ghost King?"

"I would prefer being allowed to leave."

"Nico it is then." He casually walks over to one of the walls and presses a hidden button. A panel slides up to reveal a bar. "You know," he pauses to grab one of the glass bottles half full of liquor and pours himself a drink, "you're a hard person to track down."

"I wasn't aware you were looking." Not that I would let him find me if I did.

"Cap asked me to after you randomly dropped off the face of the Earth." Liar. There's no way that's the only reason I'm here. Though, if it is, then that means Stark might not be a clear sighted mortal like I though. Did the Mist not work on any of the Avengers. If S.H.I.E.L.D remembers me it could cause problems in the future. I'll have to worry about that later, right now I have to deal with this blockhead.

"Since when do you do favors for wanted criminals?" Yes I know about the Accords. I only live under a rock most of the time. The ice in his glass clinks as his grip tightens. Looks like I touched on a sore subject. "So what's the real reason I'm here?" I move on. "I'm not signing that stupid piece of paper."

He downs the rest of his drink in one gulp then sets it down with a thud. "How do you know Spider-Man?" He gets to the point so quickly I might think he doesn't want me mentioning the little civil war he had with Rogers a couple months ago. I'm guessing Spider-Man is the hero from earlier. The one that turned out being Parker under the mask.

"You mean Peter?" Stark's eyes widen a fraction of an inch. Just enough to show me that he's worried that I know that name. "I go to school with him."

"You go to school? Since when?" He really shouldn't be so surprised. I am fifteen after all.

"Yes," I tell him, slightly offended, "I started yesterday."

"And you're friends with Peter?" Now he's just being rude.

I roll my eyes. "Friends is a generous term, but it's not like I'm going to tell anyone his secret." I assume that will answer his next question. "Even if I did, who would believe me?" Stark opens his mouth, probably to defend his protégé. Then he quickly shuts it and shrugs in agreement.

"Oh, well, I had this whole speech prepared," He rambles.

"Sorry to disappoint. Is that all?" I want to leave. This is getting no where and my injuries are still hurting. I don't think my arm is supposed to be that swollen. Also, I can't know for sure since there isn't a clock in the room, but I'm positive I haven't slept in over twenty four hours.

"No," He answers when I go to stand up from my seat, "there's one more think." Oh goodie. "I want you to keep an eye on Peter." He's kidding right?

"You're kidding right?" He doesn't say anything."Why would you want me to do that, better yet, why would I do that?" Stark shrugs.

"Didn't you say you would save all those people that I couldn't?"

"Maybe," I grumble. I really don't like when twist my words around and uses them against me.

"Well, I might not be able to save him in time. I'm a busy man after all." I'm basically a safety net. That doesn't make me like this any more.

"Fine," I agree. Though my lapse in judgement may have something to do with all the blood I lost tonight. That or sleep deprevation can be the only explanation.

"Perfect, I'll have Happy drive you home," he exclaims while giving me a smile that got him on so many magazine covers, but only makes me nauous.

"No thanks." I'm already leaving as a baby sitter, I rather not make it even worse by letting him know where I'm staying. "If you'd dim the lights I'll find my own way out of here." Stark scoffs. He shrugs when I only glare at him.

"Friday," Stark command even though I'm the only other person in the room and I don't think he's talking to me. "kill the lights." He makes a down motion with his hand and the lights follow. They dim until the room is almost entirely covered in shadows. I consider the problems with shadow traveling in front of a mortal, but right now I just want to leave and don't really care if I get in trouble. I'm pretty sure Stark already has an idea about what I'm about to do anyways.

"Well Stark, I can certainly say that it was _not_ a pleasure to see you again," I give as a farewell and melt into the shadows.

I solidify in my apartment, thankfully right above my couch. Plus, I don't feel like I'm fading. Best news all night. I'm ready to join the world of Morpheus, instead I get attacked. "Ghost," a figure yells before jumping on me. The air is knocked out of me.

"Ashley," I open my eyes to find a mop of reddish blonde hair blocking my vision. "Can't breathe," I wheeze.

"That's enough Ash. You don't want to kill him do you?" None other than Lou Ellen says. Ashley's head pops up so that I can see, but she continues using my chest as a chair.

She hums, thinking it over, "Sure, why not?"

"Okay, get off." I push gently push her away and sit up. "I already feel like the dead, no need for me to join them." Ashley laughs like I told a job and my body isn't on fire. Lou Ellen looks more skeptical. "What are you doing here?" I force myself to stand and search for one of my Ambrosia stashes since it doesn't seem like I'll be getting any sleep with them here.

Lou Ellen doesn't answer right away. "Ash, don't you think it's time you went to bed?" I stop in my search to give her a confused look. What could she want to talk about that Ashely can't hear? A stern 'mom' look from Lou stops the "but" that slips from Ashely's mouth and has her scurrying off to the only bedroom in the apartment. Now I really want to know why they're here. "You look horrible. What happened?" Lou Ellen asks once the door shuts.

I rummage through a drawer until I find the godly food that I'm sure I hid here. "Have you ever jumped out of a car?" I tear a piece off of the lemon square looking food and plop it in my mouth. Aah, so much better.

"Yes," she doesn't even hesitate to think about it. "Is that what happened?"

"Something like that." The swelling has gone down significantly and most of the cut are starting to close. Thank goodness for magical medicine. "You still haven't said why you're here," I change the topic. Tonight is already bad enough without having to explain my failures.

"There was a problem at camp," she says lightly though the tone sounds forced.

"What type of problem?" I haven't felt an unusual amount of souls heading to the Under World, so I'm assuming it isn't a monster attack. At the same time, I don't think she would come all this way for something minor like a pig ball gone wrong.

"A couple of kid have been bullying Ashely because of her powers." She avoids looking directly at me by messing with her hair. My hand automatically drifts to the hilt of my sword, but all I find is an empty sheath. Did I leave it at Starks? No, I must have lost it when I fell out of the van. Stupid weapons dealers. "Earlier today they were teasing her for having an undead pet and it got a little violent." I glance toward the closed door of the bedroom. "Ashely's fine," Lou reassures me when she noticed my gaze. "A bruise or cut here and there, but fine." Maybe it's a good thing I lost my sword. I would have put those jerks in the infirmary by now if I still had it on me. "However, no one has seen Spirit since."

I take a deep breath like Will taught me to when I get angry. "I was wondering where that zombie bunny was hiding." Not really, but it's much more civil than what I really want to say right now. I want to curse the campers for never learning and the gods for forcing those powers on a kid in the first place. I want to scream that they shouldn't shun her for abilities that she didn't choose, that I didn't choose.

"But I spoke to Chiron about it and he agree to let her leave camp for the weekend and stay here," she hurries on once it's obvious I'm not going to get mad. On the outside at least.

"Oh did you?" I smirk. So this is why they're here. I pretend to think it over even though we both already know my answer. I would do almost anything to keep Ashley growing up the same way I did. "I guess she could stay here."

Lou claps her hands together in excitement. "Great, I'll pick her up Monday morning," she plans. I let her get half way to the door when I remember that there's something I need her to do for me.

"But if Ashley's staying here then you should have time to do a favor for me." Grabbing the first piece of paper and pencil I can find, I start making a list.


	6. Chapter 6

_**A/N: Did I just finish another chapter? I think I did. Oh thank goodness. I forgot that this scene even existed in the movie and then, by the time I found out, I couldn't think of a way to ignore it without ruining the original plot and just ended up avoided writing the chapter for a month, so sorry about that. If the time line seems a bit off, that's why.**_

 _ **Thank you for reading and/or reviewing this story. I really really enjoy getting all the reviews, and I'm sorry that I don't always reply. If you have a questions or anything else please feel free to private message me. I'll be sure to answer then.**_

* * *

The ringing in my head wakes me up. At least I hope it's in my head, the other option is that someone's actually calling the land line Hades made me get for the apartment and that's not something I want to deal with right now. The pitter patter of feet on the kitchen tile cuts through the ringing until they both suddenly stop.

"Hello?" I can hear Ashely ask. Poseidon's trident, it was the phone. I throw my arm over my eyes in an attempt to block everything else out while trying to figure out why one of the few people with my number would call instead of me. None of reason I can think of work in my favor. I'm shaken out of my thoughts by the phone being shoved towards me. "It's for you," Ashely explains, turning away to grab the T.V. remote as soon as the phone is out of her hand.

Even without putting the phone to my ear, I can hear the usual recording informing me that I didn't show up for school. Great, because that's exactly what I need right now. I hang up. Isn't it supposed to be Saturday already?

"What?" I groan when I notice Ashely staring at me.

"Are you going?"

"No," I tell the daughter of Hecate.

"Why?"

"Because," I huff, hoping to end the conversation.

"Because why?" she smiles.

No such luck. "Because I can't leave you here alone."

There's a beat of silence the, "Why?"

"Fine, I'll go," I relent just to make her stop. "But I'm leaving Jules Albert to watch over you," I warn.

-Time Skip-

Why did I come? I think as the person signing me in glares at me like I'm some kind of hooligan. It's offensive. I'm a public menace at best.

The day is already half way over, so I decide that I can probably get away with skipping class instead of risking death by boredom. I wonder the halls, trying to figure out the lay out of the school so that I don't have to rely on Michelle to get from class to class. It's my third time circling the school when I run into Ned and Peter. I didn't actually run into them, but it was 're peering around the conner of the hall and whispering to each other. Could they get any more suspicious?

"Why are we whispering?" I say, startling the two friends. I have to clamp my hand over my mouth to keep from laughing evilly as they jump a foot into the air.

"Nico," Peter tries to cover up his surprise, "I thought you weren't here today."

Shrugging, I smirk. "Just came in,"I switch to a normal speaking volume only to get shushed. "What? Worried the chess club's going to hear?" I point through the window to the group of kid that are starting to give us weird looks.

"Uh," Ned hesitates.

Slightly curious about why they're hiding and knowing that I won't be getting a decent answer from these two anytime soon, I round the corner to get a look for myself. I can't see what the big deal is. It's just a hallway. There aren't even any kids, just two men, oh. Abort, abort! One of those men is the crafty driver from last night, and as much as I would like to pay him back for getting me thrown out of a moving van and making me lose my sword, now really isn't the time or place. Peter grabs me and pulls me back behind the wall right before the thugs can turn and see me standing there like an angry deer in headlights. I try to not visibly cringe at the human contact.

"Did they see you?" Peter panics.

"Uh, I don't think so." I move his hand off of my arm.

He slumps against the wall in relief.

"They left," Ned reports. He doesn't seem confused by Peter's worrying which makes me think that he must also know Peter's secret. That or he just has a lot of faith in his very weird friend. "They went into the shop room."

Great, now we can leave without them recognizing me or connecting me and Peter. His secret is safe and I don't have to worry about getting expelled for fighting criminals on school property. It's easy, only an idiot ruin this opportunity.

"I'm going to follow them." And Peter is that idiot. Before I can tell him how stupid he's being, he already runs after the people that want to kill him. No wonder Stark thought he needs a babysitter.

Cursing the Fates for never letting my job be easy, I try to go after him when Ned grabs my arm. Okay, people really need to stop touching me without my consent. "What do you think you're doing?" he whisper shouts at me which really ruins the scolding tone he's trying to use.

"Going after Parker; he might need help," I tell him like it's obvious, because it is.

"You can't do that," Ned starts to panic. He lets go to physically block me from going the same way Peter went.

"Oh really," I challenge. If I didn't already know about Peter being Spider-Man, Ned's resistance to helping his friend would be really suspicious. He needs to get better at the whole secret identity thing. "And why not?" I push.

"They might recognize you," he suggests. He would only know that if Spider-Man told him about last night. Seriously, S.H.E.I.L.D needs to have a junior class on keeping identities a secret.

"How would you know that?" I toy with him. "the only other person there was Spider-Man." Ned's face goes white as he realizes his mistake. "Is there something you're not telling me?" I mean to be fair, I've only know these two for about two days so it's no surprise that I haven't been let in on the super hero secret, but that doesn't mean I can't use it to my advantage. Now he's too busy trying to come up with some kind of excuse that he doesn't stop me when I slip past him.

I'm already barging through the door to the school's workshop by the time Ned even realizes what I did. It looks like I've come just in time too, Peter is bent down behind a table and the dealers are dangerously close to seeing him when I arrive. "Hello boys," I channel my inner Crowley to draw their attention towards me and away from the boy hiding three feet from them. Everyone's head whip towards me so I guess it worked.

"You," the guy from last night recognizes me.

"Me." I smile.

"Who's this kid?" The criminal that I don't remember from last night asks his friend.

"The one with the sword that I told you about," thug number one explains.

Peter gives me a curious look at the mention of my sword, but I pretend I don't see it. I'll answer his questions later, maybe.

"Speaking of which, I really liked that sword, would I be able to get it back?" I ramble, giving the men time to stalk past Peter and closer to me.

Thug two sneers at me. "Sure, we'll take you to it. While we're there you can explain to our boss how you ruined last nights deal and what type of metal makes anyone that touches it feel like their soul's being sucked out of their body." He reaches up the steps, trying to grab my ankle and forcing me to take a step back. I think they're close enough now.

"You know what, never mind, you can keep the sword. It's obvious you can't use it anyways, but keep trying. If you end up killing yourselves that's less work for me," I tell them before turning tail and running. I have to lead them away from Parker somehow and it's not like I want them taking me to their boss either.

I don't really know where I'm going. I take one random turn after another, gaining the attention of the students in the classes along the way, but thankfully the teachers quickly shut and lock their doors instead of coming to investigate. Looks like school lock down protocols are working in my favor.

At one point I have a great enough lead on the criminals, that clearly aren't used to running so quickly, that I can step into a shadow and travel outside of the school without them being any the wiser.

I step out of the shadows beside the front stairs with no thugs in sight. In fact, the only people I can see are Ned and Peter hurrying down the steps. "Where are you two going in such a hurry?" I step out into the sunlight so that they can see me clearly.

"Stop doing that!" Ned scolds once he regains his balance enough that he doesn't fall down the steps.

I hold my hands up in surrender and laugh. I don't mean to always scare people, but it's kinda funny when I do.

While Ned catches his breath, Peter stares at me weirdly. "How did you get away from the guys that were chasing you?" he asks. Well not by getting any help from you.

"Simple, I gained a great enough lead that I was able to duck into a class room without them noticing. Once they went past I made my way out here to hind until the police can be called or something." Now that's how to lie properly.

Parker doesn't even get a chance to try and poke holes in my story when his wrist starts beeping and a holographic map with a glowing red dot moving across it expands from his bracelet.

"What's that?" I try not to smirk at the look of horror on Peter's face.

"Uh," he stutters. He looks to Ned for help who only shrugs. There's a silent argument between them before they both turn back to me and with perfect certainty says, "a game," at the exact same time Ned tells me it's "his new maps app."

"What are you doing?" Peter whisper yells at Ned.

"I don't know, I panicked." Ned apologizes.

"Look," I interrupt them, "you don't have to tell me what it is, but correct me if I'm wrong, the red dot getting closer to us is a bad thing right?" Neither of them say anything so I'm going to assume that I'm right. "Okay, then instead of standing here, waiting for the man with the super weapon to come find us, how about we finish this conversation somewhere else?" I suggest.

They waste time thinking it over.

"Well, I rather Aunt May didn't figure out about this, so we can't go to my place," Peter explains.

"And my parent really hate unexpected visitor," Ned adds.

There's only one other place left. "Looks like we'll have to use my apartment," I sigh, "Come on, lets get this over with," I mumble the last part. What I do to keep my promises.


	7. Chapter 7

Five minutes, that's how long I stand outside my apartment trying and failing to find my key. To make it worse, Peter and Ned spend the entire time watching awkwardly. By the time that I remember Ashley is visiting and therefore able to open the door, I'm about ready to kick the door down. I knock while ignoring the look the two behind me give each other.

"I forgot my key," I grumble in explanation. Ned nods in understanding when Ashely swings the door open. "Hey, I'm back."

She smiles in greeting before turning to Peter and Ned. "Who are they?" she doesn't move to let us in and I know she won't until I can prove there's no threat. Seriously, she may be only eleven, but sometimes she acts more like an over protective mother than a kid.

"People from school."

She perks up, "Friends?"

I wouldn't put it that way. "Sure," I suggest.

I can't see what Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum are doing, but it must not be anything too suspicious because Ashely finally lets us in.

"Your sister's nice," Peter comments, making me almost choke on air.

I hum in a way that is both agreement and dismissal. Ashely stares at me with wide eyes. Hopefully she's okay with me playing along with Parker's fantasies. I don't feel like coming up with a lie about why she's here right now. If she's really upset I'll make sure to apologize later.

"My room's this way." I gesture toward the back hall while trying to figure out where Jules Albert is hiding.

"Are you sure that your parents are okay with us being here?" Ned glances around like mentioning them are going to summon my parents from the Underworld.

"It's fine. They're both out of town for the weekend," the lie easily rolls off my tongue. "They won't even notice you were here."

Ned accepts this without complaint and follows me back to my room, leaving Ashely to position herself in front of the glowing television screen. After Peter and Ned leave I'm going to have to make sure she does something that isn't as likely to melt her brain.

Once we're all in the room, I close the door behind us so that we won't be disturbed. "So, are you going to explain what's going on or am I going to have to guess?" Peter pretends to be more interested in the dark grey of my walls than answering. "Though be warned, I'm a pretty good guesser."

That gets his attention. "Uh, yeah, what do you want to know?" At least he's given up on trying to deny that he's keeping secrets.

"The glowing red dot? What's that all about?" I decide to start with an easy question. There's no reason to expose Peter's secret identity three minutes into the conversation.

Peter turns to Ned for help, but he's too busy studying my old mythology collection to take any notice. "It's a tracker," he admits.

"Mr. Stark gave it to him," Ned decides to chime in. A.K.A, Stark gave the tracker to Spiderman.

"As part of my internship," Parker explains, looking absolutely horrified. Ned stops rifling though my stuff for a moment to notice, but only shrugs and mouths a sorry. Do they realize that I'm standing right in front of them and can see everything?

"And the men at the school? Why where they there?" I move on. I need to know if they were looking for me or had another reason to be there and I just have worse luck than I thought.

"No idea," Peter fiddles with his hands, liar.

"You tagged them with a tracker even though you had no idea who they were or why they were there?" Does he really expect me to believe that?

He shrugs innocently. "They looked like bad people." It's such a Percy answer I can't help but roll my eyes.

Getting information out of him is going to be like fighting a hydra, exhausting and more trouble than it's worth. If only he knew I was actually trying to help, in my own way. "So, are you going to tell Stark?"

Parker stiffens and his eyes widen. "Why would I do that?"

"Maybe because he's told the whole world he's Iron Man or because he know Spider-Man? He might be able to help."

"Oh, yeah, I'll do that tomorrow."

"Woah, is this Hades?" Ned interrupts our conversation, reaching for the figure Bianca died for.

"Don't touch that!" I scold just in time for his hand to jerk away without touching it. To bad he pulls back too fast and knocks off a different one, the Apollo figurine. I try to catch it, but I'm too far away. I can't move fast enough. But Peter can. One second I watch Apollo falling toward the ground where it'll surely break and the next it's in Peter's out streched hand.

"Sorry," Ned mutters lamely. I try to give him the most scalding glare I can muster and by the way he visibly gulps I'll say it works.

I take a deep breath to reel in my annoyance. "It's fine," I grind out. "Just please don't touch anything else." I snatch the figure out of Peter's hand and hold it close. I still remember when I got it. Will was so appalled when he found out that I had every Olympian other than Apollo. The next day I found it sitting outside my cabin wrapped in a bright yellow bow.

"I never pegged you for a guy that plays Mythomagic. When did you start?" Peter asks.

I can't tell if he's trying to change that topic or if he's truly interested. "When I was nine or ten, can't remember," I answer truthfully. It's hard to keep track of my age since my time in the Lotus Hotel.

"Cool, I started around the same time." Ned plops down on my bed, staying away from my stuff.

"Wait, you play?" Besides Frank, I haven't met many people who know how to play Mythomagic outside of the occasional tournament I've gone to.

Peter sorta laughs, "Are you kidding, what money he doesn't spend on lego death stars he spend and card and figurines. You should see his collection. It's huge."

If I'm not mistaken, Ned seems to be blushing at the complements. "It's not that big, besides, you have a great collection yourself. I've never seen a Hades in person before."

Now I want to laugh. if he thinks this is a lot, he should see what I left behind in my cabin at camp, or better yet, all the cards I have stashed in my room in the Underworld. This is nothing. I take my hobby seriously, to the point that Hazel calls it an obsessions most of the time. "Thanks, my sister gave it to me." I leave it at that.

"Well we should definitely verse each other soon."

This is a trap right? It has to be some type of scheme. Why else would someone willingly want to hang out with me? He doesn't sound like he's trying to set me up and it would be nice to play with someone other that my sister's boyfriend. I'm still trying to figure out what the catch is when Peter's tracker watch starts beeping. "Why is it doing that? What does it mean?" Is it going to explode? I wouldn't put it past Stark to make an exploding watch.

"It means they stopped moving." Peter brings up the holographic screen so that we can all see.

"So where are the super secret bad guys now?" Ned asks more excited than worried.

"Maryland."


	8. Chapter 8

Now that Ned and Peter know where the weird weapons dealers are, they're off, babbling on about some trip and how they're going to make sure Peter is able to go. Normaly I wouldn't care that they're spilling a bunch of secrets as if I'm not standing less than three feet away, but right now the very few hours of sleep I got last night aren't cutting it and I can already guess that they're planning a way to get to Maryland. Plus, I have to make sure the eleven year old child I currently have in my living room actually eats something or risk her sister testing out her latest batch of pig balls on me.

I wait a little to see if their conversation will burn it self out without me doing anything to stop it, but every time it seems to be dying down, they start doubting themselves on something that rekindles their planning. Not seeing an easier way, I eventually clear my throat in the way most people do when they want to be noticed without drawing to much attention. I'm a little surprised when it works. They automatically stop colluding with each other and turn to me like they've seen a zombie. I'm almost tempted to check that Jules Albert hasn't snuck up behind us.

"Sorry, I guess we sorta forgot you were still here," Peter apologizes, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Well it is my house, my room."

"You know, you're right, we should leave before we over stay our welcome." Ned practically pushes Peter out the door. I follow behind them to make sure they don't mess with anything on the way to the front door. Zeus knows that they can't leave things alone if my Mythomagic figures are any indications.

They're out the front door and halfway down the hall before Peter suddenly remembers his manners. "Thanks for inviting us." I nod to let him know that I've heard him before closing the door on their quick retreat.

Idiots. How could those two buffoons keep Peter's alter ego a select for so long? I can't believe I almost thought they up to something suspicious earlier. Oh well, with them on their way to D.C. soon and me staying her to watch Ashely I won't have to deal with them for a few more days.

More importantly, now that they're gone I can finally get something to eat. I'm starving. If my appetite wasn't already ruined thanks the my time in the jar, my stomach would have already eaten itself three times over by now.

"Hey Ash, what do you want to eat?" I call over my shoulder as I begin throwing open cabinet doors and rifling through the fridge to see what I have in stock. The only answer is the still running television. "Ashely?" Slightly concerned that she disappeared in the short time that I took my eyes off of her, I creep over to the couch to check.

Thankfully it's still occupied. She's laying there with half of her body practically dangling over the edge as she slowly breathes in and then out again. I don't know how she can possibly be sleeping in such a position. If she moves even a little she'll be choking on her own hair. Sighing, I grab the remote to turn off the television then try to move her so that she's in less danger of landing in a heap on the floor without waking her up. I'll wake her up when the food is ready.

I grab the remote and turn off the television before resuming my search for something editable. After a while I gather together eggs and bread, assuming french toast will be at least a little healthier than ramen. It doesn't take long for me to have a plate full of fried bread ready to be eaten, now I just need someone to eat them.

"Okay, time to wake up," I say louder than the last time that I tried to get Ashely's attention. There's a grumble and the shifting of a body, but she doesn't get up. Okay, plan B. I grab one of the pieces of junk mail I left laying on a near-by counter and throw it.

She lazily rolls over so that she can look at me over the couch. "Did you throw something at me?"

"Of course not. Come on, you need to eat something and I made food."

Ashely squints at me, but decides that food is more important than the minor assault and wonders over. I plop a plate down in front of her. She stares at it for a minute before looking at me. "Syrup please." she smiles and widens her eyes to make them look bigger. So much for french toast being healthy.

"By the way," I interrupt once she's eaten half of her food. "where's Jules Albert? He was supposed to watch you."

"In the bathroom."

"Okay...why?"

"To hide I think. "Ashely tilts her head to the side, thinking. "He went in there when you knocked on the door. " I nod in understanding. Reaching out my senses, I dismiss him back to the Underworld. Probably should have done that earlier. "Done," Ashely declares. She grabs her plate and puts it in the sink before rushing back over to the T.V.

"Whoa, what do you think you're doing?"

She cocks her head and points at the large screen.

"Nope, you've watched enough television. Your brain will turn to mush." Says the guy that spent the whole night binge watching a show two days ago. When did I become a hypocrite? "Why don't you draw a picture or read a book?" Great now I sound like a middle aged mom. I have a kid for less than a day and this happens.

"I'm not three, but fine, I'll go struggle through an English book."

"Or you could just borrow one I have that's written in Greek." She rolls her eyes to show me what she really thinks of my idea. Before either of us can make another snarky comment the phone cut in. Who's calling now? Snatching up the phone, I answer. "What?"

"Is this Nico di Angelo?" The guy on the other end sounds a little like Stark's bodyguard from last night. How did he get this number?

"No," I hang up.


	9. Chapter9

Saturday, the only day of the week with any redeemable qualities. I can finally sleep in without having to worry about school. Even better, there's no phone that can make me wget up since I may have turned it off after the call I got last night. It's as perfect a morning as it could be. At least it would if there wasn't someone banging on the door at 9 o'clock in the morning.

Maybe I can pretend that I'm not home. Ashely should still be sleeping so it's not like she can give me away. "I know you're in there Nico. Open up." Well that didn't work. though I'm sure I've heard that voice somewhere before. If it's who I think it is then a man child is going to die today.

"I was sleeping," I tell the annoyance as soon as I open the door.

"What? No hello or How are you?" The man on the other side asks. Doesn't he know it's to early for sarcasm?

"What do you want Valdez?" I huff. "Tell me quickly and I might not slam the door in your face."

Instead of being concerned by my threat, he flashes me his signature impish grin and readjusts a reticular box he has slung over his shoulder. "Really di Angelo? We're going by last names now? What is this Hogwarts?" I wonder if he knows how close I am to punching him right now. I'm sure he does which makes me curl my hands into fists, wanting to punch him even more. I must be glaring too because he raises his hands in surrender. "Relax Death Boy, I just came to drop off the stuff you asked for."

"How did you even find me?" I ask before changing my mind. "You know what, don't answer that. It was Lou wasn't it? It had to be, she's one of the few people who know I'm staying here." Leo doesn't say anything. He just stares at me. "Well?"

"I'm sorry, did you want me to answer that or not. I'm confused."

Take a deep breath in and slowly breathe out. Don't strangle the demigod. "Just come inside before one of my neighbors get the wrong idea." I step out of the door way so that he can slink past me. "Make yourself at home I guess," I offer, but the sentiment is lost since he already has. Faster than I can say "Repair Boy" he is laying on the couch with his feet propped up on the coffee table and his package discarded on the floor beside him.

"Nice place you've got here," he comments, causing my last nerve to commit suicide.

"I need coffee." There is no way I can deal with Leo for more than three minute while still being half asleep.

Leo perks up. "I'll take mine with mine and a truck load of sugar." Hades help me, if he gets any more energy I'm going to insane. He can have decaf with milk and be happy about it.

"You're not supposed to have your feet on the table, it's rude." Ashely stables out of the bedroom, somehow rubbing the sleep out of her eyes while still sending a death glare in Leo's direction.

"Aw, Nico doesn't mind. Right Skeleton Buddy?"

I roll my eyes, used to Leo's horrible nicknames by now. "No, she's right. It's rude and I do care. Now move your feet and show me what you brought. I didn't realize one delivery was an all day job."

Ashely beams, clearly pleased that I sided with her on the matter. "Told you," she gloats. Then, just to prove it, she sticks her tongue out at him.

"Okay, okay, I can clearly see that I'm out numbered here." Leo removes his feet from on top of the table only to jump up, excited once again. "But just wait until you see what Uncle Leo brought you." He practically skips over and rips open the package he carried in.

"Please, never call yourself that ever again," I advise him, but go closer despite my survival instincts tell me to run very very far away from this lunatic. Unless it's a trick of the light, he's smoking in anticipation, literally.

Leo ignores me. "You're lucky Harley already started most of the stuff you asked for months ago or it would have taken us a lot longer to finish everything."

I'm almost scared to ask but "Why was Harley building a sword that works on mortals and a super hero suit?" I knew when I asked for something to hide my identity when dealing with Peter and the rest of the Avengers that won't leave me alone, but I didn't expect someone to come up with the idea before I did.

Leo starts laughing. "Are you kidding?" I'm not. "The kid's been obsessed with you ever since he found out about you working with the Avengers to save the world. I think you're his idol."

"But why?" I don't want to be anybody's idol. I don't deserve to be, All I do is get people killed, get Will killed.

Leo starts shaking his head and lets out a huge sigh like somehow I'm the idiot here. I'm not, am I? "Nico, Nico, Nico, you're a super hero now and that means that people are going to start looking up to you. Deal with it and take the suit." The light glints off metal as he throws something at me. I catch it instinctively, not that I have much choice if I don't want to be hit in the face.

It's a shiny white with swirls of sliver running through it. The shape almost resembles that of a crown some nightly king would wear, but it's size is closer to a bracelet. It looks nothing like a suit. "What is this?" I have to be missing something here.

"Your suit, it goes on your wrist."

"Okay..." I do as he says, but I'm still waiting for someone to jump out and yell "Got ya."

"Now press the black button." Leo instructs.

Button? What Button? I twist the bracelet around my wrist until I find a blake jewel imbedded in the design. Before pressing it I look back to Leo, trying to see if he's hiding something from me, but I come up empty. Taking a deep breath, I steel myself for the worst and press the button.

It doesn't blow my hand off so that's good. Instead section upon section of amor branches out from it like dragon scales. They keep expanding until my torso, arms, and legs are covered in armor. It's light weight and a pale, shiny grey that twists the shadows and light to make my look almost translucent. It also creates a mask that covers the bottom half of my face. The mask doesn't make it hard to see or breathe. I take it off to get a better look. Unlike the suit, it's stark white and looks more like a skeleton's jaw bone that anything else. Any and all accents are done in a matte black that contracts and creates shadows on the suit.

"How did it do that?" I ask once I'm certain that it's stopped changing.

"Magic." Leo does jazz hands for some reason. "Apparently Harley got some help from the newest member of the Hecate cabin. Ashely?

"I picked out the colors and was the one who decided that it should be a bracelet. Harley wanted to make it a ring like something he saw in a comic book, but I told him that was stupid. You already have one ring, you don't need two." Ashely rants making me wonder if she's been spending to much time with the Aphrodite cabin.

"It's perfect." I assure her. "The only thing missing is a sword. Is it done yet?" I turn to Leo.

"What, you think I lugged that big of a box halfway across New York just for an itty bitty bracelet? Of douse it's done." Done with his stunt of sarcasm, Leo reaches back into the box and pulls out a sword the same size and shape as the one I lost. The only idffereces are that this one is made of steel and has a more ornate hilt with another black diamond cut in the shape of a crown to show that it and the sword are made to match. "Ashely made most of the enchantments, but don't worry, I had Lou double check everything before giving you everything," Leo assures me even though I wasn't that worried to begin with.

"Why would he be worried. I'm great at magic," Ashely defends. She crosses her arms over her chest waiting for him to answer.

"Yeah, why would I be worried?" I copy Ashely's stance just to see him squirm.

Leo hold his hands up in surrender. "I can see I'm not welcome, so I shall take my leave. Fare well Sir Goth and Madam Scary Lady. Until next time."Leo throw the door open at the end of his dramatic only to almost run into someone standing there with their fist raised to knock. "By the way Neeks, there's someone at the door for you." Before I can scold him for calling me Neeks, he's already squeezed past the man and is down the hall.

Said man being Stark's bodyguard from the other night watches Leo leave, shakes his head in confusion and turns to me. "Oh good, you're ready to go. Love the new suit by the way."

"Excuse me? Where are you going?" Why is he even here?

"Not me, you and Washington D.C. of course. Didn't you get my messages? I must have left a hundred," he explains. Not that it helps at all. A quick glance shows that Ashely is just as lost as I am.

"No, I unplugged the phone. Why am I going there?" I would ask how he knew to find me here, but something tells me that I wouldn't get a straight answer even if I did.

"Uh, to watch Peter. You promised you would." The pieces start pricing together and I don't like the picture they're making. "By the way, who's she?" The bodyguard, Grumpy or something like that points at Ashely, seeming to notice her for the first time.

"Does it matter." I don't have time to come up with a convincing lie right now. All I want is for Sleepy to leave me alone.

"I'm his little sister." Ashely proclaims proudly. Wait, what? She takes a step closer to me, almost daring Doc to question her.

I'm sure the shock on Dopey mirrors my own. "I didn't know you had any siblings. It wasn't in the file Stark has on you." Normally I would be out raged that not only does Stark have a file on me, but that he assumes it's correct when it's clearly not. Bianca was my sister and Hazel still is. Including Reyna, Jason, and Percy who decided that they're my family, I have a lot of siblings. Though, instead of blowing up at this, I'm trying to figure out when Ashely became a part of that group without me noticing.

"That's because you don't know anything about me," I eventually find my voice to at least be a little annoyed. "If you did than you would know I have no plan of going to Maryland today. I may have promised to keep Parker from dying, but that doesn't mean he need me to hold his hand every minute of every day. I'm not going." I make sure my chin is raised and my feet are planted squarely on the ground, the altimeter stance of defiance.

"Well I want to go. It sounds fun." Ashely pipes up.

Bashful perks up, probably thinking that he can use her to change my mind. He's wrong. I refuse to leave the house at all today when it's my for day off all week. "Fine, we'll go tomorrow. I'm sure Spider-Man can survive one night without someone coddling him."

Sneezy doesn't look pleased with my decision, but at least knows best to hold his tongue. He's lucky I've decided to go at all. At least Ashely looks happy. That's it! That's his name, Happy!


	10. Chapter 10

****A/N: Hello, and welcome to an actual update for once. Sorry about the delay and the two month break. If you're still here after that then thank you for reading, reviewing, and being overly patient with me.****

 ** **Now, moving on to the real reason for this A/N. Do you want one-shots? Short stories and little scenes that didn't make it into my actual stories but were mentioned along with whatever random things enter my mind. If you have answered yes then please let me know if you want these oneshots to be extra chapters in my preexisting stories or as another book entirely? Thank you!****

 ** **Disclaimer: I don't own Marvel or anything by Rick Riordan.****

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Well, it's large and very, um, white," I swallow.

I mean what else do you say about an overly tall monument? Ashely is too busy tilting her head all the way back in an attempt to catch a glimpse of the tippy top to really hear me or to answer. I don't understand her fascination. I mean, sure it's slightly impressive, I guess, but no more so than any of the other memorials or museums we've visited today and certainly not any greater than the architect in Olympus. Not to mention all the people milling around. There are _so_ many. Between the tourists and the suspicious number of remains hanging around I have a massive headache.

At least Ashely is enjoying herself while I slowly lose my mind. I was sure that I've caught a glimpse of Michelle along with a couple other kids I've seen from school multiple times only for them to be gone by the time I look back. On the off chance that I'm not seeing things, then Peter might be with them and I should probably be trying to make sure he hasn't gotten himself into trouble. Especially after Happy called this morning ranting about Peter turning off a tracking chip.

"Ghost," Ashley pokes me in the side to get my attention. "do you know that girl?" She stops assaulting me to point at a girl with dark curly hair that I thought was a hallucination just a moment ago.

"Nico?" Michelle peers at me as if she can't believe that it's really me. "Is that you? What are you doing here?" She marks the page in the book she's reading with her finger and sweeps her gaze over to Ashely and then back to me.

"Hi Michelle," I ignore her question. Something tells me that she won't be as willing to believe my lies as Peter and Ned so I rather avoid having to do anything of the sort until I figure out the perfect cover story. "What are you doing here?"

Michelle purses her lips and crosses her arms. "I asked first."

Of course she won't let it go. She reminds me of Annabeth when Percy and Jason get together to do something stupid, determined with just a dash of annoyance. "We're sight seeing," Ashely smiles. "I've never been here before and Nico promised he would take me." I don't know who taught Ashely to fib so well, but I need to thank them or scold them. I don't know which one, maybe both. I hope she didn't learn it from me. I'm already going to be in enough trouble for taking her on this impromptu field trip.

"Really?" Surprisingly Michelle's tough girl act seems to melt slightly even if she still sounds skeptical. Could she have a soft spot for kids?

"Yes really? What else would we be doing here?" I defend. I really don't have the effort to be interrogated today.

"Well, it's quite convenient that you're here and Peter disappeared last night." she shrugs, keeping her eye to watch for sometime of reaction. She doesn't get one.

"Parker's missing?" How did he get into trouble so fast? I saw him less than forty eight hours ago.

Michelle's frowns. "You really don't know where he is? Shoot, I thought he snuck out to meet you." She kicks at the ground, annoyed. Ashely smirks at the idea.

"No, why would you think that?" I ask. I don't know what would make her come up with that idea.

"You watch him a lot." Ashely muses, causing me to stare at her like she's insane because she is for even thinking such a thing. Michelle nods along in agreement.

Okay, first of all, I only watch him because that's my job and for some reason the Fates have decided that he has something to do with the oath I made. And second of all, no, just no. I think I might know what they're getting at and they're way off. I'm all ready to tell them this, rather forcefully if necessary, when a shock wave rumbles through the ground and people start swarming out of the monument.

There's screaming and general chaos, none of which is helping my headache. I almost can't hear Michelle and she's two feet away from me. "I don't see them. They should have come out by now." She's frantically scouring the hoard. Oh, right, there were more of them when I was hallucinating weren't there? After a moment or three, most people have cleared the area while Michelle is still trying to figure out where her group is with Ashely and me helping the best that we can. "They must be inside," she decides.

I know it sounds bad, heartless even, but that's the last thing I feel like hearing right now. When necessary I'm all for saving people and all that other hero stuff that Percy harps on about, but then again, heights. I don't know how tall the monument actually is, but from the ground it's tall enough to make me worry it's considered Zeus' territory. And I really have no interest of living with my father permanently even if Will is there.

"Okay, take Ashely and get out of here. I'll figure something out." I don't know what, but hopefully a plan that doesn't get me killed.

"Ghost?" Ashely reaches towards her side, reminding me that she doesn't have a weapon on her.

Michelle looks at me confused. "What about you?"

"I'm, um, I don't know, something. Don't worry about me," I insist. How did I get into this mess again? I've lost track.

Michele doesn't get a chance to argue anymore as another wave of confusion sweeps through the crowd behind us. A weirdo in an entirely too bright, red outfit with blue stripes going every which way pushes his way through all the people. Oh look, Spider-Man finally decided to show up. At least now I know he didn't go and get himself killed.

He stumbles to a pause beside me. "My friends are up there," Michelle apparently decided that she can trust Peter to save her classmates more than me. Rude.

"I'm on it," Parker promises and takes off running again. Though instead of going through the front door like any normal person who didn't have a death wish, he chooses to scale the side of the monument like some weird, sticky frog. So no, he didn't get himself killed yet, instead it seems he waited until I was here to be blamed when he inevitably meets his demise.

"He's going to need help," I groan before running off, leaving Ashely and Michele behind. I trust that they'll be able to keep each other until I get back. At least I know Ashely can handle herself and Michelle is, well, she's more oposing and slightly taller.

The moment I'm out of sight, I shadow travel to the top. Thankfully everyone seems to preocupied with the elevator to notice me coming out of the shadows. However, I also arrive just in time to see Peter using his web ropes to swing towards the window, and he's about to crash into it.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: New year, new over due update. Have a great New Years Eve or New Years day depending on what time zone you're in. Thank you for reading and/or reviewing this story. Have a great day, until next time.**

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Yes, Spider-Man dying was a tragedy. He was taken from this world too soon and I wish there was some way I could have saved him. Alas, there was nothing I could do to stop him from going _splat_ against the side of such a historical, national monument. If only we could have switched places, maybe I wouldn't have been such an idiot and no one would have had to die.

I start planning my speech for Parker's funeral when he hits the window feet first. Though, instead of being smashed like an actual spider, he breaks through the window. The surprising feat sprays glass over everyone who have not been able to evacuate the building. I'll never understand how some people are able to do idiotic displays like that and come away with barley a scratch, but I use my powers once and suddenly I'm on death's door. (Not literally though, Death really doesn't like visitors showing up at his palace without warning.)

Peter lands in that weird superhero pose I saw in a movie Jason made me watch one time. The stance where one knee is on the ground while and his head is bowed like he's going to propose to the floor.

With all eyes on him, I consider taking the chance to deploy the suit Ashely made for me, but quickly decide against it. Only an idiot wouldn't make the connection between me running into the building and a new super hero appearing out of no where. And Hades help anyone who would call Michelle an idiot. Besides, I'm not ready to reveal the existence of the Ghost King just yet.

Instead I blend try to blend into the crowed as they back away from the webs Peter shoots at the elevator. They latch onto the car a moment after the last cable snaps. His quick reaction saves the occupants from a tragic death and is all very heroic, or it would be if the hero in question wasn't Spider-Man with all of his inexperience and knack for finding bad luck around every other bend.

The weight of the lift drags him across the floor, forcing him to brace himself on what's left of the glass doors. I can't help but feel like this has happened before except with a van, but maybe that's just my imagination. Right now would be the perfect time to have some type of sticky hands or feet that he could use to anchor himself.

"Don't worry, I've got this." I don't know if Parker is trying to reassure the people standing around watching, his classmates trapped in the elevator that could fall any second, or himself. It's doesn't really matter because I'm more than fairly certain that he doesn't "got this."

To prove my point, the glass under his feet starts cracking at an alarming rate, and, oh no. He fell. Two more strands of webs shoot out of the shaft, thankfully sticking to the wall and not a innocent bystander.

Everyone rushes forwards to see what happened. Surprise, surprise, Peter hasn't died yet. No, he's still a very much alive moron who takes the 'if at first you don't succeed, try, try again' strategy way too seriously and uses the same tactic of bracing himself against a rapidly crumbling foundation. This time it's the hole ridden ceiling of the elevator. As much as I hate wasting the speech I prepared for his funeral, now is probably a good time to help out.

From the back of the crowd, I reach out to the shadows surrounding the elevator car and take control to make them more solid. Hopefully, it will help take some of the weight off of Peter's webs.

I can't see everything, but from the whispers around me, I think they've found a way to get the passengers to safety.

Then, because nothing can be easy, the sound of ripping meal fills the air.

The shadows I'm using to keep the lift from falling suddenly gain a lot of weight that I was not prepared for, causing me to lose control. Seriously, how did Peter hold this up by himself? Without much thinking, I go send a wave of power out to the shadows at the bottom of the shaft, forcing them into a sort of net to lesson the impact. I stumble under the strain of holding them.

The people around me let out a cheer. Risking a glance over the edge, I find Peter helping the girl he was stalking at school onto solid ground.

Letting out a sigh in relief, I let go of the shadows. If anyone notices an unnatural pause between when the elevator fell and when it hit the ground, they don't mention it.

Peter swings over to a ledge a few stories below, officially making everyone safe and sound. Maybe he doesn't need me to keep an eye on him as much as I thought.

I wait around long enough to make sure there's a way out for all the civilians before shadow traveling to ground level to sneak back to Michelle and Ashely.

It isn't hard. With so many people trying to get a closer look at the chaos and the authorities doing everything to prevent that, it's easy to go relatively unnoticed. The only one that does see me is a young daughter of Hecate who makes eye contact with me. From there, it's a simple as allowing myself to be pushed back behind the makeshift barriers as if I had ben there all along.

"Ghost," Ashely greets with a large smile, startling Michelle who hasn't noticed me yet.

"Hey Ash, everything going okay out here?" I rather not have to deal with any monsters right now.

"Yep, though she may not agree." Ashley points to an obviously annoyed Michelle.

"You are insane," Michelle diagnoses.

"Thanks, I really needed the clarification." For a second I show her a smile that matches Ashely's, but then turn more serious. "Oh, and you might want to know that I head one of the officers mention that everyone inside is safe. They should be coming out soon." It also helps that I saw it with my own eyes.

She nods, accepting the information without trying to react to it, but I can see some of the tension leave her shoulders. " And what about you? Are you okay? No one's said what happened."

"Yeah, I'm good. I didn't even make it past the first floor before someone caught me and made me turn back. By then, I lost sight of you guys and only just found you again." I isn't as hard to lie to Michelle as I thought it would be. I've been wrong about a lot of things today. I don't like it. "Thanks for looking after Ashely while I was gone." Though I suspect in reality, it was the other way around.

"No problem, you have a pretty cool sister." She manages to ruffle Ashely's hair for moment before he hand is swatted away. Though a glint in Ashley's eye suggests she doesn't really hate the interaction. I'll have to find a way for those two to meet again.

"That I do, and she and I need to start heading back before our parents get worried. Will you be okay here by yourself? You don't have Ashely to watch over you anymore."

Michelle scoffs even though I'm not joking. "I'm not a damsel in distress; I'll be fine," she insists.

"Okay then, I'll see you at school."

Ashley waves good-bye as I guild her away from all of the hullaballoo.

It takes two minutes to find a dark alley way, then another twenty minutes and three low level monsters for us to find one that's actually empty so we can finally shadow travel to my apartment in New York. By the time we make it back, it's late and I'm tired from using the shadow. For the second time this week, I want nothing more than to fall into a coma on the couch.

I'm half way there when the lights flick on, momentarily blinding me. "Nice of you to finally get back." I have to blink the spots out of my eyes. When I do, I find Lou Ellen leaning against the wall next to the light switch.

"Lou." Ashley perks up at the sight of her older sister, completely unconcerned the harsh glare pointed at me.

"What are you doing here? You aren't supposed to pick Ashely up until tomorrow," I ask, much more weary of Lou Ellen's temper.

"Well, surprise. I came early since I remembered that you have school. Imagine my shock to find no one here, but I didn't worry. They're probably out for the moment it thought. I'll just watch T.V. until they get back, surly it won't attract too many monsters and it's been a while since I've caught up on the news in the mortal world. Would you like to know what I saw when I turn it on?"

I don't. I really, really don't.

"Ashely standing in the background of a breaking news report next to some random person with you no where in sight." She crosses her arms, waiting for n explanation.

"Her name was Michelle. She's Nico's friend from school," Ashley states. "I was keeping her safe."

Lou looks just as surprised as I am that Ashely spoke up. "Oh, were you? What monster did you keep her safe from?"

"There wasn't a monster. At least not there." It there was, I wouldn't have left her alone without a weapon.

Lou Ellen's anger starts giving way to confusion. "Seriously, there wasn't any Greek influence? You happened to be there at such a horrible time by accident?" She doesn't have to be so surprised. My bad luck isn't that horrible.

"I wouldn't say that." I shift from one foot to the other.

"Nico," she takes a step forward to get a better look at me. "What did you do?"

"Nothing! Geez, why does it have to be my fault?" I fall onto the couch. Standing is too much effort.

"Ashely, why don't you go grab your stuff. We'll be leaving soon."

Ashley doesn't move. She looks between me and Lou.

"Now please."

Huffing in annoyance, Ashely stomps off to the back room.

Lou Ellen stalks over and flops down next to me. "Spill." She pokes me in the side.

"You know about the Avengers, right?" I pull my knees up to my chest to be a smaller target just incase she tries to assault me again.

"Who doesn't? You had a quest with them a while back where, um, where Will," she clears her throat. "What do they have to do with anything?"

"One of them got in contact with me the other day, asked for a favor."

"Nico, no."

"Lou,"

"No," she interrupts. "Whatever they want, don't do it."

I shrug. "Too late."

"Then back out. I'm sure they would understand."

I'm shaking my head before she finishes. "I can't do that."

She grabs my shoulder and shakes me a little. As if that will knock some common sense into me. "Nico, the last time you helped them someone died. Will died."

"You don't think I know that!" I cut her off.

Does she think I forgot? I didn't. I can't.

"What do they want you to do?" She asks quietly.

"Keep an eye on some junior hero I go to school with. I make sure he doesn't die."

"What? They don't have anyone else to baby sit?" She asks.

"Guess not. It doesn't matter though, I made a promise." I rest my chin on my knee, not caring to look at anyone right now.

"So? You've never cared about promises made to mortals before," Lou Ellen points out. "Unless you didn't make the promise to a mortal." My continued silence answers for me. " Please say you didn't do what I think you did."

"Why? You've figured out by now that I did," I wonder.

"You're crazy di Angelo, absolutely insane."

"So I've been told." I smirk, trying to lighten the mood, as if I didn't admit that I swore on the River Styx.

"So, what do you do know?"

"Isn't it obvious? I make sure what happened to Will doesn't happen to anyone else."


End file.
